Chapter 68


    -Angie-


    “So how are we going to test this theory again! I didn’t really n much past, you know, catching the


    guy.”


    Ignatius, Dorothy, and I had congregated outside after they had conversed with the captured shifter.


    Ignatius looked like he had forgotten all about the iron theory and merely wanted to beat the guy


    senseless, Dorothy looked shaken but she was trying to remain strong and she kept her shaking hands


    tightly wrapped around her stomach


    Ignatius ground the toe of his boot into the ground as he thought. Much like me with my sneakers, he


    was prone to wearing the same pair of ckbat boots for absolutely every asion and they had


    endured their fair share of wear and tear over the years


    Dorothy was covered in paint and I was wearing the same clothes I had set out in two days ago.


    Between the three of us, we didn’t look very intimidating and not at all close to the regal leaders of an


    entire pack and its army


    “Dorothy Ignatius looked up and she snapped to attention. “Do you still have that knife of yours?”


    Eager to please, she nodded and lifted the baggy leg of her jeans to reveal the de in its sheath that


    was strapped to her


    I raised my eyebrow, I recognized that de. It was the same one she had pulled out while I myself


    had been in handcuffs back when I tried to poison her at the party. It looked just as quietly menacing as


    it had back then. Tiny but curved to kill.


    “Do you carry that with you everywhere!


    Dorothy slid the de out of its sheath and held it up to the light. “Most ces, yes. Sometimes it even


    makes an appearance in the bedroom.”


    I shot an incredulous nce at Ignatius who merely shrugged as the ghost of a smile yed across his


    lips. It vanished just as quickly, however, when the crushing weight of the dire situation came down on


    our heads once more.


    Rather than open that particr can of worms I shook my head and turned my attention back to the


    task at hand. “You know what? I don’t actually want to know. Anyway, is that de made of iron?”


    Dorothy snickered at my suddenly reddened cheeks before nodding “Rita called it a Faerie de. She


    said it would protect me from all kinds of strange creatures, whatever that means.”


    She lowered the de down to her nose and examined it intently. “She said that it wouldn’t do much


    good against a shifter. But if we’re right and these guys are vulnerable to iron then a jab from this could


    be fatal.”


    Ignatius offered his hand and Dorothy handed him the knife. “When Dorothy stabbed that first Tally


    attacker in the eye. I thought nothing of it.


    “He was reacting how anyone would react if they suddenly got a de lodged into their socket. But he


    hadn’t seemed to express pain from any other injuries dealt to him. The same goes for every attacker


    we managed to catch since. And that guy


    Tudn’t died like the others either.”


    Icast my mind back to the ordeal of earlier that year. Every attacker that we managed to capture had


    fallen apart after a few days


    Quite literally, their bodies corroded until they could barely sit upright. All of our questionings,


    threatening and even Surture from Elliot’s side was futile. They seemedpletely immune to pain


    They ceased to speak, although they refused to do much of that he tore either, and eventually, they


    faded away as their life


    drained snertinic. But the attacker that Dorothy had inpared died almost immediately after Ignatius and


    Geranium rahim down, foaming at the mouth and writhing in pan


    So are we just going to


    10:59 Fri, Jan 20


    “No.”


    Ignatius pocketed the knife anil loped back towards the cells. His shoulders were tense and 1 worried


    that the stress of it all was finally taking a toll on him.


    “We’re going to see how he reacts to having it near him first. Then we’re going to stab him.”.


    “Your boyfriend is in a foul mood today,” I muttered to Dorothy as we followed after the tall, slender man


    that my childhood


    friend had be.


    “He was fine earlier, Dorothy feigned bewilderment. “I think all of that changed when that guy


    mentioned drinking my blood


    Ignatius growled at our snickering. It seemedpletely inappropriate to be making jokes at such a


    time. But under the light humor, all three of us were doing our best tobat the growing dread that


    had taken root in our chests.


    Back inside, we traipsed past the rest of the cells and stood before the Tally captive once more. He


    lifted his head casually upon our arrival and raised a bushy eyebrow. “Back so soon? Don’t tell me you


    missed me already”


    “Not quite.” Ignatius folded his arms as he stood before the man. Tell me about what’s going on with


    your b*dy. Why do all you Tally reck of death? And why the f uck are you so hard to kill”


    The man leaned back against the wall behind him andzily opened his legs. “Why don’t youe and


    inspect it yourself?”


    “Funny,” Ignatius said dryly. “If I were to stab you right now, would you die?”


    “Of course not,” the man scoffed and rolled his head to the sale. My b*dy may not be looking its best


    right now but that can’t be helped. You still won’t be able to kill me though. We have surpassed the


    b*dy’s natural state. We are something greater than all of you. We can’t be killed.”


    “Is that so?” Ignatius lifted the knife from his pocket, keeping his eyes on the shifter through the bars. “I


    need you to answer – another question for me, seeing how you’ve been so generous with your


    answers so far.”


    The man frowned in perplexion at the small de. “Are you trying to threaten me with that dinky thing?


    You’d have more luck just by drawing your ws our


    “Come closer then if you’re not afraid of it. Ignatius had cottoned on to what I had already suspected


    myself. This mAT WAS up for any challenge, he was too c ocky in his inhuman b*dy.


    The shifter heaved himself to his feet and sauntered up to the bars with a look of boredom on his face.


    It was only when he was within half a meter of the curved de that he paused and narrowed his eyes


    at Ignatius


    “What’s wrong?” Ignatius taunted. “I thought you couldn’t die. Why note a little closer?


    The man remained where he was, a burning fury and seething look of resentment suddenly contorting


    his pocky face. He glowered at Ignatius, standing just out of reach of the bars and his mouth was sullen


    and silent


    “No? Alright, answer my question then.”


    Ignatius’ eyes glinted maliciously. Dorothy’s mate may have been a forgiving and kind leader, but he


    was a terrifying. opponent when that which he loved most was threatened.


    “What are you vulnerable to?”


    The man kept his mouth tightly shut as Ignatius continued. A shadow passed over his eyes as he


    stared daggers at our Alpha through the hars


    So far, we know for a fact that every shifter is vulnerable to silver. Ignatius counted on his hands,


    tapping the de against his palm


    “Pity it’s so hard to re


    your hands on the stuff these days”


    Fri, Jan 26


    “Then again,” he contimed patter-of-factly, pacing up and down the length of the cell entrance with long


    dragged steps.


    you


    “There’s also fire. We learned that from the few attackers that we didn’t manage to detain. A lick of fire


    and pood, there yo go. Just like every human and shifter alike.”


    The man was slowly inching towards the bars, his rage at the mockery driving him to recklessness. I


    wanted to warn Ignatius of the approach.


    Even through bars, this guy was a danger to anyone who got too close. But before I could open my


    mouth, Dorothy shot me a pointed look and very slightly shook her head,


    “There’s a final method, I think, a sessful method to fight one of you Tally Ignatius seemed to not


    notice the furious. man’s approach. He lolled his b*dy against the bars with his back to the guy who


    began reaching his shackled, wed hands towands Ignatius” throat.


    Just as the shifter was about to dig his ws deep into Ignatius windpipe, and I opened my mouth to


    scream, Ignatius turned on the spot and drew the de across the man’s palm.


    The man’s scream was guttural and he clutched at his sliced palm wailing and falling to his knees. It


    was an overreaction to what was only a small flesh wound and when the wound itself began to darken


    and the flesh surrounding it puckered and withered, our theory was confirmed.


    “It’s iron.”


    Ignatius stared nkly as the man’s entire arm had begun to look more like the gnarled trunk of a dead


    tree rather than anything that remotely resembled Desh


    He threw himself onto his back and gripped the shriveling arm as he screamed in agony, rolling around


    on the floor like his b*dy had been set aze and he was desperate to put out the mes.


    Ignatius pulled another sharp knife from inside his jacket, one I hadn’t been aware he was carrying.


    “You’re going to die like this. If I’m not mistaken, your blood is being poisoned as we speak. It must be


    painful.”


    There was no sympathy in his voice and 1 saw Dorothy’s look of concern as Ignatius began to look


    more and more like his


    father.


    He twirled the glinting knife in his hand. “So I’ll give you some options then. We’re generous here at the


    Bielke Pack after all


    He chucked the knife into the cell next to the iling man. “You can writhe there like the worm that you


    are, and wait for the poison to kill you. Or you can cut your arm off and stop the decay before it gets the


    rest of you too,”


    Ignatius shrugged his shoulders at the man who stared up at him with real fear in his eyes. “Or you can


    just take the knife and end your suffering quickly, but then again, regr des can’t kill you can they?


    I don’t particrly care what you choose. I’m just happy to watch.”


    Dorothy v winced and closed her eyes as the shifter’s cries rang throughout the building, riling up the


    Têxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    other prisoners who were terrified by the torture they could not sec.


    I watched as her hand slowly came to cling to Ignatius shirt and then eventually his arm. It was then


    that I bore witness to the true power of their bond.


    Ignatius’ eyes were dark and angry, taking sick pleasure in the suffering of the man before him. He was


    an echo of the Ignatius I used to know. The Ignatius before ire, who had ruled under his father


    through fear and violence alone.


    This monstrous version of the man that I loved like a brother was brought back to his senses by the


    small, gentle hand that clung to his shirt.


    I watched fury and fully fade from lus eyes as his fingers sought to find hers. I watched her catch on to


    his ted const iousness and coax him back down to earth


    59 Fri Jan 26